The 2013 so-called "Landmark Climate Report" from the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was no surprise to this climatologist when it came out last Friday from Stockholm, Sweden. It’s all about funding, MONEY, pure and simple.
Some 800 scientists now claim that it’s "EXTREMELY LIKELY" that human activity is the ‘dominate cause’ of global warming, not the SUN as I claim.
In the Panel’s previous assessment in 2007, the U.N.-sponsored report said that it was "VERY LIKELY" that global warming was ‘man-made.’
The Panel now says that the "evidence has grown" thanks to more observations, a better understanding of the world’s climate systems and improved long-term climate models to analyze the impact of rising global temperatures.
The IPCC says the "human footprint" can be found in the warming of the atmosphere and the oceans on the planet in rising sea levels, melting snow and ice and in changes of some climate extremes.
The full 2,000 page report wasn’t released until this past Monday, September 30. But, there were, in my opinion, no real surprises. It was still the same old global warming "song and dance" routine, Man, not God, is in charge.
As expected, the IPCC raised its projections on the rise in global sea levels to 10-32 inches (26 to 82 centimeters) by the end of this century, when this climatologist will be 158 years old. The previous report in 2007 predicted a rise of 7 to 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters).
Using four different scenarios on greenhouse gas emission controls, the Panel projected that global average temperatures would rise by just 0.3 degrees Celsius or a whopping 4.8 degrees Celsius, take your pick, by the end of the century. That’s anywhere between 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit and a staggering 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit. (How’s that for hedging your bets?)
As I mentioned last week, one of the most controversial subjects in the report, which was earlier ‘leaked,’ was how to deal with a purported ‘slow-down’ in the global warming trend in the past 15 years since 1998. I say that this global warming ‘hiatus’ certainly casts doubt on the scientific consensus on climate change. We live in a totally confused world!
As I’ve said for decades now, what we’ve been seeing worldwide for thousands of years are NATURAL climate change cycles caused by the sun’s variability and other various climatological factors.
But, the polluting ways of Mankind, particularly in the urban ‘heat islands’ of the cities, has added slightly to the long-term warming trend, especially prior to 1998. The rural areas of the planet have been ‘fairly stable’ temperaturewise since at least 1940.
We should likewise remember that there are definite signs that we are now heading into an extended period of global cooling. Stay tuned.
